September 22, 2006

REJECTED

CB6: Ratner’s mega-plan would ‘damage’ Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Papers
By Ariella Cohen

Atlantic Yards will cause “irreparable damage to the quality of life in the borough of Brooklyn,” members of Community Board 6 decreed last week, calling for Bruce Ratner’s mega-development to be redrawn before it is approved by state authorities.

In a series of four motions, CB6 crystallized criticisms of the scale and traffic impact of the 16-tower residential, hotel, arena and office-space development.

“Within a quarter-mile [of the arena], the population will increase by 60 percent. No mitigation scheme can prevent the dangers that such overcrowding will create,” said board member Jeff Strabone.

Atlantic Yards would bring 2,581 new cars, 14,410 residents and — on game nights — 20,500 basketball fans to Prospect Heights, according to engineers hired by the developer.

Yet even as they criticized the $4.2-billion Atlantic Yards, the board members emphasized that they supported development at the site abutting the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.